Beer-related travel, at home and abroad, exploring and indulging my passion for beer.

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Fuggles - West Kent CAMRA Pub of the Year

Last night a group of around 15 local West Kent CAMRA
members gathered at Fuggles Beer Café in Tunbridge Wells for the presentation of the bar’s award for Branch Pub of the Year. The evening also coincided with a “tap
takeover” from Gun Brewery.

Fuggles was heaving, and was probably the busiest I’ve seen
it, but I managed to squeeze in, and after buying a glass of one of the Gun
Brewery beers, I made my way to the rear of the bar where I found my CAMRA
colleagues waiting at two specially reserved tables.

I thought I had missed the presentation itself, but as luck
would have it, things were running late, so I was able to witness Branch
Chairman Craig handing over the certificate to Fuggles owner and founder, Alex
Greig. I was unable to hear the speeches, but I know that the award was well
received and well deserved.

Fuggles’ success reflects the dedication, hard-work and
commitment Alex and his team have put in since opening their door for the first
time, back in 2013.. With 20 ever-changing draught beers, including 6 cask
ales, real cider and over 100 speciality & rare bottles, plus over 100 gins
and whiskies, together with food &
coffee served all day, Fuggles is definitely
one of the premier go-to places in Tunbridge Wells. Other operators have had to
raise their game, in order to compete, so the overall effect has been a general
raising of standards. As if that wasn’t enough, Fuggles will be opening a new
outlet, under the same name, in Tonbridge, later this summer.

Things were a little hectic last night, but the company was
good and so were the beers. I stuck with the offerings from Gun; themselves a
successful and highly rated brewery specialising in small-batch, unfiltered
beers. They are based on an organic farm, at Gun Hill, deep in rural Sussex,
and brew a wide range of well-crafted and highly drinkable beers.

For the record I enjoyed Vermont Pale 4.4%, Hons the
Serenity 4.4%, Zamazama IPA 6.5% and Imperial Stout 7.4%. All were excellent,
and all were keg – if that means anything. There were several other Gun Brewery beers I
would like to have tried, along with a cask session ale from Thornbridge.
However, with a busy day of work beckoning the following morning, I resisted the
temptation.

So an excellent, if somewhat blurred evening.
Congratulations to Alex and his staff on this well-deserved award, and I look
forward to being able to drink beers of this calibre, within walking distance
of home, once Fuggles opens in Tonbridge in a few month’s time.

Acknowledgments

Photos courtesy of Fuggles plus Craig and James Beesom. I
did take a few of my own, but the quality left much to be desired, so
thanks chaps.

1 comment:

Well deserved, based on a couple of visits. Ignoring the beer, it's a really friendly place that my teenage boys and elderly in-laws all enjoyed. Not your classic building, of course, but very much a pub.

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About Me

Sixty years old (just) and married with one twenty-something son, who shows no sign of wanting to
leave home. My interests are many and varied, and whilst beer (and the
enjoyment of it) obviously features high on the list I also enjoy travelling
(particularly when it involves searching out new beers to try), cycling and
walks in the countryside. I dabble a bit in gardening, which at the moment
primarily involves re-landscaping my garden. My other main interests though are
music, especially 70's rock music, and history. I have been a member of CAMRA
since the mid 1970's and have edited a number of local branch magazines. I have
also had published two, now sadly out of date, guides to Kent
pubs. For six years my wife and I also ran our own successful real-ale
off-licence, which as well as selling cask ale to take away by the pint,
offered one of the best selections of bottled beers in the south east. Prior to
taking on the shop, I was an accomplished home-brewer producing a wide range of
full-mash beers; something I intend to get back into in the not too distant
future.